Rachel Maddow Slams President Obama’s Drone Policy – (2/4/13)

by gradycarter

I posted about drones for foreign vs. domestic use a while back in a post called “Prone to Drone“, and I think that Rachel helps this conversation move further. I appreciate that she was willing to criticize her “team”.

I don’t always agree with Rachel Maddow, she is more liberal than I am. But, I do appreciate her very thorough and well examined pieces on her show that are likely to be contentious, like drones. I appreciate that she sites sources and makes well framed arguments, so that it’s possible to disagree with her and explain why.

I decided that this video was worth posting because Rachel rarely seems to disagree with President Obama, but when she does she means it. And by far the topic that she seems to have the most disagreement with him on is drones. I have differing feelings on this topic, and since I still consider myself somewhat of a conciencious objector the the debate as a whole I would rather post this and hear what others have to say on the subject. It is a conversation that crosspollenates domestic and foreign policy, and definitely calls for a re-examination of a few basics (ie: The Golden Rule). I think we can let the video explain the rest:

Grady, it’s a very difficult issue, about which I have very mixed feelings. Anyone studying this issue has to start with US foreign policy after WWII. We felt pretty invincible back then, and I’m not sure anyone saw the potential blowback that still haunts us to this day (maybe more than anything else). I think modern warfare calls for different rules. I’m not sure if the Just War Theory still holds water, if it needs to be altered, or if it should still be followed. We don’t know what kind of intelligence the Obama administration has. We also have to be careful not to completely give up on oversite of the executive and assume they are taking the best course of action. I honestly can’t add any intelligent commentary on this issue. There are too many unknowns, both pertaining to actual information, as well as to the best philosophical framework to be applied. It seems that the implications of various policies of the world’s most powerful governments are becoming greater and greater. Decisions appear to be carrying more weight (foreign policy, financial regulation, domestic police power, etc.). This means that those responsible for making these kinds of decisions need to act with more and more care. The problem is that while these decisions are becoming more and more important, it seems to be less and less clear what kind of reverberations might emerge. We may be entering a world of greater repercussions and less certainty. I’m just glad I’m not the one making these decisions.

I think that’s exactly where I am on it. I don’t know what these leads to, and I don’t know what my jobs is as a citizen for holding the President accountable – and obviously I don’t mean that as if I’m going to really make a difference. I have just been grappling with this one.